Method of air conditioning



Jan. 15, 1935 T. CHESTER 1,988,264

METHOD OF AIR CONDITIONING Original Filed Jan. 30, 1928 ATTORNEYSPatented Jan. 15, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE 250,489. Divided andthis application January 22, 1931, Serial N0. 510,349

' mzlssurn 11 Claim. (Cl. 261-115) pheric conditions in enclosurestructures such as auditoriums, and work rooms in certain industries.

This application is a division of my copending application, Serial No.250,489, filed January 30, 1928, which has matured into Patent 1,791,-751 issued February 10, 1931, wherein is shown a novel form ofdehumidifier or cooler. The present invention takes advantage of thepossibilities of such dehumidifier or cooler, to provide a method of airconditioning which may be practicedwith higher operating eflicienciesthan heretofore obtained.

It is old in the art to cause two streams of air, one drawn from theoutside atmosphere, and the other drawn from the ventilated enclosure,

-"to flow simultaneously through treating apparatus, for the purpose ofadding heat to the air or, conversely abstracting heat from the air.-This addition or abstraction covers both sensible and latent heat. 'Themethod disclosed in this 1 application shows how sensible heat in theair taken from either or both of the two sources mentioned, can beutilized for the purpose of varyingthe drybulb temperature of the airleaving the treating apparatus without the subsequent addition orintroduction of any other stream of air.

Briefly, the invention embraces the provision of a stream of airrecirculated from and to the enclosure, adding to said stream fresh airin an amount suflicient to maintain a suitable quality of air in theenclosure, modifying the dewpoint of the fresh air portion of the unitedstream and when requiredjmodifying also the dewpoint of a portion of theunited stream which consists of a mixture of fresh and recirculated air,and cleaning the entire stream before its entry into the enclosure. Bysuch method it will be apparent that all of the air which enters theenclosure from the conditioning system, will have been cleaned, yetdewpoint adjustment or coolingmay be made only to so much of the air asis necessary. The method is of extreme simplicity, as is the apparatusnecessary therefor.

The exactnature of this invention together with further objects andadvantages thereof will be apparent from the following description takenin connection with .the accompanyingdrawing, which is a conventionalizedand diagrammatic showing of anair conditioning sys;

tem set up for operation according to my method. l

In the drawing, 16 isan auditorium, the air of which is to beconditioned. Air supply inlets 1'1 are appropriately arranged as in thewalls and ceiling, and air extraction outlets 18 are ar-. ranged as in,the floor thereof and lead to a master outlet 19.

A dehumidifier or cooler indicated at 1 is provided, and arrangement ismade to circulate air from the outlet 19 through the conduit 20 whichhas a suction chamber 21 communicating with the dehumidifier or cooler,thence by way of theconduit portion 22, through the blower 23,

conduit 24, to the inlets 1'1. Flow is thus maintained in the system asindicated by the arrows.

The dehumidifier or cooler indicated is provided with spray nomles 3,arranged in three horizontal zones the upper two of which are controlledas by the diaphragm valves 8, 8', as indicated by the piping appearingin broken lines. In the assembly shown the nozzles are supplied by watercooled in a refrigerating system indicated conventionally as at 26,circulation from the tank 5 through the refrigerator means 26 and thedehumidifier or cooler being maintained by a pump 27.

' Scrubber bame plates 14 are provided as indicated, supplied with wateras from thepipe 28. Beyond the scrubber or eliminator 11 in thedirection offlow is a heating coil 29 controlled by a valve 30.

The valves 8 and 8' are arranged for automaticcontrolasthroughanairline3Lthe compressed air Supply to which iscontrolled by a relay 32 which in turn has connection as by smallcompressed airpipe 33 with an instrument 34, which may be a-hygrostat,or thermostat'in the path of the return air. The spring of the valve 8is formed or adjusted-to be of less strength than'that of the valve 8'whereby valve 8' ,willclose only after clofing the valve 8.

Fresh air may enter the enclosure structure from the outside atm phe 'e,by inflltrations, through doors, windows, crevices, etc., to maln-, taina suitable standard 'of purity in the system. However, a louver damper35 may be arranged in thewall. of the suction chamber 21 adjacent thelowermost zone of the dehumidifier or cooler,

the damper being shown in open position wherein outside air which enterstherethrough is admitted to the recirculated air current. The.

damper 35 isarrangedas described, that such outside air as is introducedinto the system passes through the lowermost portion of the deing astream of fresh air'to said recirculating humidifiier or cooler which isalways effective for dehumidifying or cooling action, and this air istherefore conditioned as well as scrubbed.

The surplus part of the return air may be vented to the atmospherethrough the various leakage crevices, or through a duct provided forthis specific purpose.

In operation the blower 23 maintains the air circulation indicated, andaccording to the humidity or temperature of the air in the returnconduit 20 the upper portion of the dehumidifier or cooler will beoperative or inoperative on the air passing therethrough. Whether or notdehumidifying or cooling action is had in the several zones depends uponwhether or not the nozzles therein are functioning. This in turn dependsupon opening of the valves 8. In the lowermost zone through which mostof the fresh air passes spray is continuously maintained. Spray in thezones thereabove is had only dependent upon the humidity or temperaturein the conduit 20, these zones automatically becoming operative inascending order and inoperative in descending order.

The adjustment of the damper may be automatic as will be well understoodby .one'familiarwith the art, but also when required the setting of thisdamper may be stationary so that a constant volume of fresh air will beadded to the recirculating stream flowing through the conduit 20.

All of the united air stream passes through the dehumidifier. or coolerwithout divergence or deviation of the stream but only so much as isnecessary is dehumidified or cooled therein;

and such dehumidified or cooled portion always includes more of thefresh air portion of the united stream than of the recirculated portion.

On the other hand, the entire united air stream is cleaned by thescrubber 14. In other words, in the dehumidifier, the dewpoint of thefresh air portion of the united stream passing therethrough, is modifiedmore than the mean dewpoint of the entire united stream is modified.

The net result is therefore, that while a conditioned air supply isalways had in the room, and this supply is always free from solidimpurities, yet only the least necessary refrigerated water is used bythe dehumidifier. Most of the fresh air introduced into the system isproperly conditioned on its first pass through the dehumidifier orcooler and the cooperating apparatus of the system; the recirculated airbeing dehumidified or cooled only when necessary. A portion of theunited air stream whichconsists of a mixture offresh air andrecirculated air is also either dehumidified or cooled only whennecessary.

What I claim is:

1. The method of cooling and ventilating an enclosure comprisingproviding a recirculating stream of air from and to said enclosure,addstream, and thereafter modifying the dew point of'the fresh air'portion of the united stream more than the mean dewpoint of the unitedstream is modified.

2. The method for the purpose described,

' comprising adding a fixed proportion of fresh air to a recirculatingstream of air, and thereafter modifying the mean dewpoint of theunitenclosure comprising providing a recirculating stream of air fromand to said enclosure, adding a stream of fresh air to saidrecirculating stream without mixing said streams, and thereaftermodifying the mean dewpoint of the united stream, by cooling the freshair portion thereof and some of the recirculated portion thereof,without coincidentally materially cooling the remainder of saidrecirculated portion.

4. The method of cooling an enclosure com-.-

prising providing a recirculating stream of air from and to saidenclosure, adding a stream of fresh air to said recirculating stream,and thereafter cooling the fresh air portion of the united stream to alower temperature than that to which the recirculating stream is cooled,and utilizing the sensible heat of the recirculating stream for thepurpose of raising the dry-bulb temperature of the cooled fresh airportion, without the subsequent addition of any other stream of air. 5.The method of conditioning a stream of air of increasing humidity fromone side to the other, comprising dehumidifying or cooling a unitaryfractional part only of said stream on the relatively humid sidethereof, and varying the sectional area of said part withoutsubstantially impeding the flow of any sectional part of said stream, tomaintain a desired mean humidity standard for said stream.

6. The method for the purpose described, comprising adding fresh air toa recirculating stream of air, and thereafter modifying the meandewpoint of the united stream by cooling a fresh air portion thereofwithout simultaneously substantially cooling a recirculating portionthereof.

7. The method of cooling and ventilating an enclosure, comprisingproviding a recirculating stream of air from and tosaid enclosure,adding a stream of fresh air to said recirculating stream without mixingsaid streams, thereafter modifying the mean dewpoint of the unitedstream by cooling the fresh air portion thereof and some of therecirculated portion thereof, without coincidentally cooling theremainder of said recirculated portion, and varying the'volumetricamount of said portions of said united stream subjected to cooling,responsive to a condition of the air withdrawn from said enclosure.

8. The method of cooling the air contents of an enclosure comprisingproviding a recirculating stream of air from and to said enclosure,adding a stream of fresh air to said recirculating stream,and-thereafter cooling the fresh air portion of the united stream andsome of the recirculated portion thereof, to a lower temperature thanthat of the remainder of said recirculated portion, and utilizing thesensible heat of the warmer portion of the recirculated stream for thepurpose of raising the dry-bulb temperature of the cooled portion of theunited air stream.

9. The method of conditioning a stream of air of increasing absolutehumidity or temperature from one side. to the other, comprisingdehumidifying or cooling a unitary fractional part only of said streamon the relatively humid side thereof, and varying the sectional area ofsaid part without impeding the flow of any sectional part of said streamby other means than that inherent in the action of the cooling means, to

maintain a desired mean humidity standard for said stream.

messes 10. The method of cooling a stream of air drawn from twodiflerent sources, the united stream having a higher temperature on oneside than on the opposite side, comprising cooling a 5 fractional partof said united stream on the higher temperature side thereof, andvarying the cross sectional area of said iractional'part subjected tocooling, responsive to variations in a condition of one of said sourcestreams, with- 10 out impeding the flow of any sectional part of saidunited stream by other means than that inherent in the cooling means.

11. The method 0!? cooling the air contents of an enclosure comprisingproviding a recirculatingstreamotairtromandtosaidencl adding a stream offresh air to said recirculatin; stream, thereafter cooling a fractionalpart only of the'unitedstream on the fresh air side 5 thereof, andvarying the cross sectional area 01' said fractional part by varyin thearea presented by the cooling medium to said united air (IERTIFICATE 0FCORRECTION. Patent-No. 1,988, 2 6: V V ianuary 15, 1935.

' moms CHESTER. V

I Itis herebycertified that error appears in the printed specificationof the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 2,first column,

lines 40 to 44, strike out the words "In other words, in thedehumidifier, the dewpoint of the fresh air portion of the united streampassing the'rethrough, is

A modified more then the mean dewpoint of the entireunited stream ismodified."

and insert the same after "portion." in line 38; andthat the saidLetters Patent should be read with this correction therein that thesamemay conform to the record of the'case in the Patent Oi fice. A Y oSigned and sealed thisfsthday of March, A.v D. 1935 f Lea lie Frazer(Seal) Acting Connnissioner-oi Patents.

